Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day With Irish-Themed Movies All Day Including ‘The Quiet Man’
St Patrick’s Day 2025 is here, and if you’re not out trying to catch a leprechaun and his pot of gold or out having fun in your kilt with a pint of beer, cozy up on your couch with some traditional Irish food and enjoy these holiday favorites.
Turner Classic Movies celebrates St. Patrick’s Day
On Monday, March 17, Turner Classic Movies celebrates St. Patrick’s Day with 12 Irish-tinged favorites in various film genres, from musicals and comedies to dramas and films noir, beginning at 6am.
Here’s a full list of the TCM St. Patrick’s Day lineup:
Everett Collection
6am EST: Little Nellie Kelly (1940): This musical comedy film begins in Ireland, where Jerry Kelly (George Murphy) marries his sweetheart Nellie Noonan (Judy Garland) over the objections of her ne’er-do-well father. The three of them immigrate to the U.S., where Jerry becomes a police officer and Nellie dies in childbirth.
8am EST: Peg O’ My Heart (1933): A young woman (Marion Davies) living in an Irish fishing village inherits her late grandfather’s estate, but is forced to spend three years in England training to be a proper lady to collect it.
9:30am EST: The Daughter of Rosie O’Grady (1950): An Irish horsecar driver’s daughter (June Haver) meets New York showman Tony Pastor (Gordon McRae) and goes into vaudeville.
11:30am EST: The Irish in Us (1935): Two brothers (James Cagney and Pat O’Brien) vie for the affections of a young woman (Olivia de Havilland).
1pm EST: The Fighting 69th (1940): This war film is based upon the actual exploits of New York City’s 69th Infantry Regiment during World War I and stars James Cagney, Pat O’Brien, and George Brent.
2:45pm EST: The Rising of the Moon (1957) is an Irish anthology film directed by John Ford. It consists of three episodes all set in Ireland.
4:15 EST: Girl With Green Eyes (1964): A young Irish woman (Rita Tushingham) moves to Dublin and falls for an older writer (Peter Finch), leading to a tumultuous affair that falls apart when he realizes they have nothing in common.
6pm EST: Odd Man Out (1947): This thriller directed by Carol Reed and featuring James Mason and Kathleen Ryan follows a failed robbery in Belfast, after which a wounded Irish nationalist leader becomes the object of a massive manhunt.
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8pm EST: Best Director Oscar winner Ford’s Best Picture-nominated The Quiet Man (1952), led by John Wayne, Maureen O’Hara, Barry Fitzgerald and Best Supporting Actor nominee Victor McLaglen, follows a retired, Irish-born boxer who returns to his homeland and falls in love with a fiery colleen.
10:15pm EST: Young Cassidy (1965): An Irish playwright (Rod Taylor) transitions from laborer to writer, capturing his struggles with love and politics amidst the poverty of Dublin.
12:15am EST: Finian’s Rainbow (1968): An Irish immigrant and his daughter move into a town in the American South with a magical piece of gold that will change people’s lives in this musical drama directed by Francis Ford Coppola and led by Fred Astaire and Petula Clark.
2:45am EST: Ryan’s Daughter (1970): In 1916 Northern Ireland, a married woman has an affair with a British soldier.
The Luck of the Irish
20th Century Fox Film Corp./courtesy Everett Collection
Starting at 8pm, MOVIES! is celebrating St. Patrick’s Day with just one title, but it’s a great one: The Luck of the Irish. The delightful 1948 comedy stars Tyrone Power as Stephen Fitzgerald, an American reporter who, while traveling in Ireland, befriends a leprechaun named Horace (Best Supporting Actor Oscar nominee Cecil Kellaway). Returning home to New York City, Fitzgerald discovers that Horace has reappeared in his life, acting as the reporter’s servant and conscience. He begins nudging him back toward his Irish roots, a job that doesn’t compromise his principles and is far away from his fiancée (Jayne Meadows), and toward a romance with an Irish girl named Nora (Anne Baxter). The film will re-air later Monday night (early Tuesday).
Where to watch Leprechaun
If that’s not enough to satisfy your St. Paddy’s Day cravings, there’s also this: Leprechaun (in which an evil, sadistic Leprechaun goes on a killing rampage in search of his beloved pot of gold) is airing on SyFy at 7:55pm EST. Or, for those who subscribe to Peacock, you’re in luck; it is streaming there. Want to make a day of it? Syfy will be dedicating the whole day of programming to the evil little franchise.
Courtesy of Everett
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